Comment:

In 1995 Ash announced itself to the world as a trio of Northern Irish teenage pop-punk prodigies — Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray — and, having barely left school, they made their mark on the charts with breakthrough singles "Kung Fu", "Angel Interceptor" and the magnificently fuzz-bolstered "Girl from Mars". Here was an outfit who mixed the British punk grit of bands like the Buzzcocks and the Undertones with shinier elements from American tearaways like the Lemonheads and Weezer, and their fresh, fierce formula retained its power through to the 21st Century — check out 2001's fire-storming "Burn Baby Burn" (featuring sometime fourth member, Charlotte Hatherley).

The album is dead — long live Ash's singular approach to new releases, in Next Steps.